IVF Treatment: What You Need to Know About Success, Costs, and Genetics

When people talk about IVF treatment, a medical process where eggs are fertilized outside the body and implanted into the uterus to achieve pregnancy. Also known as in vitro fertilization, it's one of the most common ways people build families when natural conception isn't working. It’s not magic—it’s science, patience, and sometimes a lot of emotional ups and downs.

IVF treatment doesn’t work the same for everyone. Success rates drop sharply after 35, and by 40, most people need more than one IVF cycle, a full round of hormone stimulation, egg retrieval, fertilization, and embryo transfer to get pregnant. On average, about 30% of women under 35 get pregnant on their first try. That number falls to under 10% after 40. Some people need two cycles. Others need five. It’s not about failing—it’s about how your body responds to the process. And if you’re using a donor egg, an egg from another person, often younger, to improve chances of pregnancy, your odds jump significantly because age isn’t your limiting factor anymore.

Then there’s the question of the baby. Do IVF babies, children conceived through in vitro fertilization, regardless of whether the egg or sperm came from a donor look like their parents? If you’re using your own egg and your partner’s sperm, yes—they’ll share your genes. But if you’re using a donor egg or donor sperm, the child will resemble that donor, not you. Epigenetics—how your environment and lifestyle affect gene expression—can also play a small role in how traits show up. It’s not about who gave the egg or sperm. It’s about biology, choice, and love.

IVF treatment isn’t just about the lab. It’s about cost, stress, timing, and what happens after the transfer. Some people get lucky on the first try. Others face multiple losses. The emotional toll is real, and it’s often overlooked. But so is the hope. Every year, over 100,000 IVF cycles are done in India alone. People are having babies. Families are being built. And the science keeps getting better.

Below, you’ll find real answers to the questions people actually ask: How many cycles does it usually take? What does the research say about success rates by age? Do IVF babies have higher risks? What happens when you use a donor? These aren’t theoretical questions—they’re the ones people show up with in clinics, late at night, scrolling through websites like this one, looking for truth, not hype.